Can bodymaker



Dec. 9, 1941.- J. H. MURCH 2,265,187

cm BODYMAKEIR Filed Dec. 16, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 #NLTOR lNVE ATTOR EY J. H. MURCH CAN BODYMAKER Dec. 9, 1941.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 j .NVENTOR ATTORNEY Filed Dec. 16, 1939 I Patented Dec. 9, 1941 CAN BODYMAKER John H. Murch, East Orange, N. 1., auignor to American Can Company, New York, N. Y a corporation of New Jersey Application December 16, 1939, Serial No. 309,660

2 Claims. (01. 153-32) The present invention relates to can body making machines and has particular reference to a curling or forming device for cylindrical can bodies having offset side seams adapted to be welded.

In the manufacture of can bodies in which the side seams are welded it has been found thata stronger seam is produced when the central portion of one of the side seam edges of the body blank from which the body is produced is ofi- ,set, i. e., bent at an angle to the plane of the blank and thence extended parallel therewith thus providing a step extending the major length of the seam. The creation of the offset is preferably done While the body blank is in the fiat. Where the body blank is formed into a cylindrical body shape by passing the flat blank through a roller curling or forming device, considerable difficulty has been encountered in preventing the offset from being ironed out flat during the forming operation.

The instant invention contemplates overcoming this difficulty by providing a curling or forming device with a relieved feeding roller to permit the offset portion of the body blank to readily pass through the device without being ironed out.

An object, therefore, of the invention is the provision in a machine for making cylindrical can bodies having an offset side seam, of a body forming device having a relieved feed roller adapted to receive the ofiset portion of the blank taken substantially along the line 2-2 in Fig. l, with parts broken away;

Fig. 3 is a greatly enlarged perspective view showing details of the body curling or forming device, with parts broken away and other parts shown in section; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are transverse sectional views taken substantially along the respective lines Numerous other objects and advantages of the 4-4 and 55 in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 being drawn on an enlarged scale.

As a preferred embodiment of the instant invention the drawings illustrate principal parts of a cylindrical can body forming machine of the character disclosed in United States Patent 2,047,964, issued July 21, 1936, to J. M. Hothersall on Electric welding. In such a machine fiat can body'blanks A are advanced endwise into the grip of a pair of feeding rollers of a forming or curling device B which feeds the blank against a deflector element or forming block C. The deflector element curls the blank into cylindrical can body shape'after which the side seam edges are brought together in overlapping fashion and are united by welding to produce the completed can body.

In the instant invention the flat can body blanks A (Figs. 3 and 4) to be formed into can bodies, are preferably of the character having an offset portion D extending along one side seam edge of the blank. Such blanks are fed in timed order onto a supporting table II formed as apart of a frame H! which constitutes the main frame of the machine.

While on the table II the blanks A are advanced transversely thereof toward the forming device B by a feed dog l5 (Fig. 4) which is bolted to ablock I6 mounted on a feed bar IT. The feed bar is located below the table and the block l6 and the feed dog I5 carried thereon extend up through an opening l8 in the table in order to engage behind a blank to be fed. The ends of the feed. bar I! are secured in lugs H! which operate in slideways 2| formed in an upright web section 22 of the frame I2. The lugs are formed on a rack bar 23 having depending rack teeth 24 which mesh with a gear segment 25 of an operating arm 26. This arm is rocked by any suitable means operating in time with the other moving parts of the machine.

When the arm 26 rocks toward the left as viewed in Fig. 4 it shifts the feed bar I! in the same direction. Thus the feed dog I 5 carried thereon engages behind a blank A placed on the table II and feeds the blank into the can body forming device B. A'removable plate 3| disposed above the table II prevents upward displacement of the blank during this feeding operation.

The body forming device B includes a pair of cooperating upper and lower feed rollers 33, 34 (Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4) which are disposed adjacent the table II so that the body blanks A may be readily fed into position between them. The upper roller 33, which also functions'as a pressure roller, is formed with trunnions 36 which are journaled in bearing blocks 51 carried on top of a bracket 38 bolted to the main frame II.

The upper roller 33 is maintained in frictional and yieldable engagement with the lower roller 34 by pressure elements connected with each of the bearing blocks 31 as will now be described. Each bearing block is formed with a pair of spaced chamfered holes 4! in which the heads of long bolts 42 are disposed. The bolts extend down through clearance holes 43 in the bracket 38 and at their lower ends they project through a plate 44. The plate is located in a recess 45 formed in the bottom of the bracket. Nuts 46 on the ends of the bolts hold the plate in place. A downward pressure is exerted on the it propels the'blank, is in time with the peripheral speed of the feeding roller 34. The of!- set edge D thus passes into its clearance recess 88, safely advancing beyond the center line of the rollers. with continued rotation of the feed rollers the outer surface of the lower roller ad- -jacent its clearance recess is thus brought into This brings the blank into the grip of the roll-- ers and accordingly the blank is fed forward by plate by a pair of compression springs 41' which are interposed between the bracket and the plate. These springs are located in bores 48 in the bracket and seats 49 formed in the plate.

The lower feed roller 34 is formed with trunnions 52 which are journaled in rectangular shaped bearing blocks 53 carried in tight fitting slots 54 formed in the bracket 38. These hearing blocks extend above the top of the bracket and are formed with beveled surfaces 55 which cooperate with similar surfaces 56 formed in the upper roller bearing blocks 31 to maintain the latter in a centralized position on the bracket 38.

The pressure and feed rollers 33, 34 are constantly rotated in time with the advancement of the body blank A by a pair of meshing spur gears BI, 62 (Figs. 1 and 5). Gear 6| is mounted on one of the trunnions of the roller 33, while gear 62 is carried on a trunnion of the roller 34. The gear 62 also meshes with a driving gear 63 which is mounted on a short drive shaft 64 car ried in suitable bearings formed in the main frame l2. The shaft carries a driving sprocket 65 which is rotated by a chain 66. The chain is actuated by any suitable means operating in time with the other moving parts of the machine.

Thus when a blank A is advanced into the forming device B the forward or offset edge D of the blank is pushed into position between the rotating feeding rollers 33, 34. In order to prevent ironing out the offset portion D of the blank when the latter enters between the rollers, the lower roller 34 is formed with a longitudinal clearance recess 68 (Figs. 3 and 4) in which the offset is received.

It is for this purpose that the roller 34 is rotated in time with the advancement of the blank by the feed dog [5. Such synchronism brings the roller recess 68 into position adjacent the upper feed roller 33 at the proper time so that the offset edge D of the blank will readily enter the recess between the rollers and thereby avoid having any pressure exerted upon it. To make this timing effective the lower roller 34 is preferably formed with a circumferential surface slightly greater than the length of the body blank being operated upon.

In this initial feeding step the feed dog l5, as

them. It is this feeding action which propels the blank against the forming block C.

The can body forming block C extends nearly the full length of the feed roller 34 and is adjustably bolted in position adjacent the roller to lugs ll (Figs. 3 and 4) which extend out from the bracket 38. The inner edge of the block is formed with a plurality of spaced and parallel blank deflecting fingers or elements 13 which extend inwardly toward the line of contact of the blank feed rollers 33, 34. These fingers are formed with beveled deflecting surfaces indicated by the numeral 14.

In setting the forming block C, it is adjusted so that the inner ends of the deflecting fingers will be slightly below the level of the offset edge D of the blank when the latter is first received in the roller clearance recess 68, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. To permit such a setting the lower feed roller 34 is formed with a plurality of spaced and parallel annular grooves 16 (see also Fig. 1) into which the deflecting fingers extend. These grooves permit vertical adjustment of the deflecting fingers to a position below the outer surface of the feed roller and also horizontal adjustment to the feed contact line of the rollers if desired.

Thus when the feed rollers 33, 34 grip the blank A and feed it forward, they force the blank endwise against the beveled surfaces 14 of the deflecting fingers 13. It is this action that bends or curls the blank into its desired cylindrical can body shape without distorting the offset side seam edge of the blank.

As the curled or formed blank comes off the forming block C, it passes around a horizontal horn or mandrel 18 (Figs. 1, 2 and 4) which is bolted to the main frame l2. A pair of removable side guides 19 extending around and longitudinally of the horn and in spaced relation therewith, confine the shaped blank against displacement from the horn. These partially formed bodies thus positioned on the horn are immediately propelled therealong for further operations by feed bars 8| which are disposed in grooves 82 formed in the horn. These bars are reciprocated in any suitable manner in time with the other moving parts of the machine. Subsequent operations upon the partialy formed can body as it is propelled along the horn form no part of the instant invention and therefore a description of these operations will be omitted.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. In a machine for making cylindrical can bodies. having offset side seams, the combination --rollena-pcrtien-ossaid fingerbeing-dispcsedbeof a pair of cooperating feeding rollers for feeding a flat can body blank having a leading oilset side seam edge, a said roller having a clearance recess to receive the offset side seam edge of the blank to prevent its being flattened during feeding, one of said rollers having a circumferential groove, and a deflector element located adjacent said feeding rollers and having a deflecting finger extending into the said groove in said I rollers for feeding a flat can body blank having 'a-leading offset side seam edge, means for yieldably and bodily urging said pressure roller towards said feeding roller, said feeding roller hav- 5 ing a clearance recess therein to receive th offset side seam edge of the blank to prevent its being flattened during feeding, said feeding roller also having a plurality of circumferential grooves, and an adjustable deflector element 10- l0-ca.ted ydjacent said rollers and having a pIu-' rality W deflecting fingers extending into the said grooves in said feeding roller, a portion ofsaid fingers being disposed below the feed line of'- the rollers for engagement by the fed blank pass- 15 ing between the rollers and for deflecting and.

bending the blank into cylindrical can body shape by first engaging said oifset edge.

JOHN l-I. MURCH. 

